[News] Hezbollah and the Palestinians
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Tue Sep 23 12:06:42 EDT 2008
http://www.counterpunch.org/lamb09232008.html
September 23, 2008
Can the Party of God Deliver Them From Exile?
Hezbollah and the Palestinians
By FRANKLIN LAMB
The response to the massacre at Sabra-Shatila
was for the resistance to become active in
Lebanon. If the Lebanese people had given up on
the resistance, they too would have been
complicit in the massacres of Qana and Sabra and Shatila.
Hasan Nassallah June 4, 2002
We renew our pledge to Jerusalem, to the
Palestinians, and to the cause and Imam of
Jerusalem; their city will forever remain in our
souls, and will continue to be our cause, our
battle, and our ultimate objective.
Hasan Nassallah October 28, 2005
The fundamental consequences of the 1982 Massacre
at Sabra-Shatila and the founding of Hezbollah
are two seismic events from the same time and
place which some argue are locked in an embrace
that will return Palestine to the Palestinians
In fewer than 45 minutes following the explosion
in Islamabad at the 315-room Marriott Hotel
during the Ramadan Iftar mealtime, Saturday,
Hezbollah security units nearly invisibly secured
the area of the 162-room Beirut Marriott
Hotel. One of the embassies they secured was
that of Palestine, which opened last year.
The security precautions were less out of love
for the Bush administration, which the movement
considers a rogue terrorist regime, or love for
the Zionist-owned hotel chain, than the fact that
the Marriott is within one of Hezbollahs densely
populated base areas. Dahiyeh, which includes
several southern Beirut neighborhoods, often
erroneously referred to as suburbs, is less
than a mile from the Palestinian refugee area known as Sabra-Shatila.
Hezbollah works regularly to intercept elements
openly boasting of or secretly planning on
attacking its neighborhoods. Some being watched
and infiltrated are Al Qaida inspired Sunni
Salafist cells, who consider Shia Hezbollah more
their enemy than they do the US or Israeli
governments. Contrary to Robert Fisks recent
reports, these groups are indeed growing in
Lebanon and inside the Palestinian Camps,
particularly Ain el Helwe, Bedawi. They are
trying to launch in the so far peaceful camps
near Tyre. This observer would agree with Fisk
that it will not be easy for Al Qaida to find
enough supporters and adherents of the
Salafi-Jihadi ideology to challenge the strength
of Hezbollahs well-organized partisans. Yet, no
fewer than 11 Al Qaida-inspired groups, eager to
destabilize Lebanon, and sometimes related to
US-Israel projects, have been organizing
according to Palestinian Popular Committee
Representatives inside the Camps. Some of their
goals are being telegraphed by the rising
campaign of threats coming from their
sometime-sponsors in Tel Aviv and Washington.
The Angry Bear Returns to the Levant
When the rest of the story is able to be told
concerning what really was happening during the
late April and early May events in West Beirut,
the facts will support a very different
conclusion than the narrative offered by the
Welch Club. Researchers expect to elucidate
contents of ten and one half hours of taped
conversations between Washington and its Lebanese
surrogates. Conversations are referred to during
a meeting between Hezbollahs number two, Sheifk
Naim Qassim, and a former US Ambassador with his
American delegation during a July 2008 dialogue
in Dahiyeh. A full report of the May events will
also document details of what is known by many
here, that every incoming and outgoing
communication at the US Embassy is carefully
monitored, analyzed and contemplated. The same
with Israeli Sunday Cabinet meetings.
This week the Israeli Armys Information Security
Chief, Colonel Ram Dor, complained in the Israeli
newspaper, Yediot Ahronot (Latest News) that
Russia is relaying intelligence information to
Hezbollah. Dor said Russian Navy spy ships and
Russian personnel serving at monitoring stations
on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights carry out
intercept and hacking missions and relay Israeli secrets to Hezbollah.
My evaluation is that such facilities can cover
most of Israels territory, Dor said.
The US intelligence unit in the American Embassy
in Beirut also blames the hacking and sharing of
its most secured communications on the Russians
while others claim its tit-for-tat for what the
Mossad and CIA did early last year in Georgia.
US Embassy Internet security experts are unclear
to what extent the Russian military is directly
responsible for communication compromises, but
they claim that the traffic patterns and servers
used in the operation are definitely coming out
of Russia and result from increased Russian activity in the Middle East.
Some in Beirut speculate that this explains why
the meticulously planned US/Israeli May
Surprise turned out to be a May Surprise for
its sponsors and their local teammates, who were
dropped like a bad habit when the project imploded.
To counter this problem, the US Defense
Intelligence Agencys newly created Defense
Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Center
is authorized for the first time to carry out
strategic offensive counterintelligence
operations in Lebanon and against any group
anywhere which the Bush administration considers
terrorist, according to Mike Pick of the DEA, who will direct the program.
Covert offensive operations will be carried out
in Lebanon and abroad against people known or
suspected to be connected to foreign intelligence
or international terrorist activities, according
to Toby Sullivan, Director of Counterintelligence
for James R. Clapper, Jr., the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence.
According to Walter Pincus, who covers
counterintelligence for the Washington Post,
these sensitive, clandestine operations are
tightly controlled departmental activities run
by a small group of specially selected people
within the Defense Department. The new unit is
designed to thwart what groups like Hezbollah
might be trying to do to us and to learn more
about what theyre trying to get from us,
Sullivan said. In the case of terrorists, the
object would be to identify people who might be
trying to do harm, collect information about us,
and keep them from doing that. So far we dont
know if Hezbollah is trying to do anything to us
but we will watch them, he stated.
You stop, we stop, is the Putin offer to the
next US administration, according to
Congressional staff sources on the US Senate
Intelligence Committee. Many in power in Moscow
also consider the Bush administration a
terrorist cabal and are awaiting the November
election results, hoping Obama wins.
The Student Laptops and the KKK Kid
Hours before the Marriott was attacked in
Pakistan, Fairouz Husseini sat with her
girlfriends in the courtyard outside Haifa Middle
School across the road from Shatila Refugee Camp,
which is administered by UNWRA in Bir Hassan.
Fairouz and her friends were giddy two days after
receiving laptops at the 26th Anniversary of the
Sabra-Shatila Massacre Memorial.
I love it! I cant believe its mine to keep!,
Fairouz exclaimed as she protectively dusted off
the pale green cover of her new XO laptop, and
recorded an interview with the screen sized video
and built-in camera. The XO laptop is part of an
advanced teaching tool developed at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology that some
believe can revolutionize education in developing countries.
That American man told us that if we used it
properly it would open the doors to the Great
Library of Alexandria for us and we can learn as
much as any student at the best schools anywhere in the World! she added.
Amal, a very loquacious 13 year old friend of
Fairouz chimed in, We are making a laptop club
at our school. We call it: Learn for our Return!
Is that a good name? What do you think? Our
friend Ahmad says its a silly idea. Anyway,
Ahmad does not behave properly and is sort of
wild. He is what we call a KKK kid - Kalashnikov,
Kassem and Katyusha. Anyhow, most students in
the camps are peaceful and we want to rebuild our
country when we go back and we need lots of knowledge to do it!
Fairouz and her Ramadan-fasting pals were already
out of school for the day even though it was not
yet noon. Lebanons camp Palestinians are
severely challenged by a shortened school day due
to overcrowding. On average around there are 35,
but sometimes there are as many as 50 students
per class, and because UNWRA must run two shifts
daily. Student and teacher absenteeism is high,
standards are low, text books insufficient,
infrastructure poor, and dropout rates increasing.
Of the 59 Palestinian camps in the Levant (Syria,
Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon) only the camp
schools in Gaza are as bad, indeed worse, as those in Lebanon.
Gaza Director of the UN Relief and Works Agency
(UNRWA) John Ging reports that up to 60 percent
of Gazan children at UNRWA schools had failed
their math exams last year, while 40 percent
failed their Arabic exams at the beginning of the year.
UNRWA provides schooling for Palestinian refugee
children from grade 1 through 9, but offers
limited secondary education and, as in Lebanon,
these schools are forced to operate double shifts
due to overcrowding. Many children come to
school hungry and unable to concentrate, according to Ging.
Haifa Fahmi al-Agha, the Palestinian National
Authority (PNA) Education Ministrys Director
General in the Gaza Strip, has documented that
failure rates at schools in Gaza were
deliberately lowered the past few years to cope
with overcrowded classrooms, too few schools and
limited educational funds. The same lowering of
the bar trend is creeping into Palestinian schools in Lebanon.
Shatila Camp, as well as its sister, Burj al
Baraneh, is located in Ghouberi Municipality,
whose Council is now controlled by Hezbollah,
whose party members won all 21 Council seats in
both the 1998 and 2004 elections. Hezbollah
security protects the whole area around Shatila
Camp, and Haifa and other Palestinian Schools
with their Shia, Sunni and Christian students.
The Sabra-Shatila area is an increasingly
close-knit area bringing together the Sunni
Palestinians and the Shia Hezbollah.
More than 90% of Lebanons Palestinian students
interviewed recently, in an admittedly
unscientific poll, appear to believe that
Hezbollah holds out their best hope to return to
Palestine, and insist their parents would vote
for Hezbollah in next years critical election if
Palestinians were allowed to vote in Lebanon.
Before leaving for home, Fairouz introduced this
observer to her lovely mother, Nour. Nour is a
community organizer who had come to collect her
daughter. She elaborated on why the Sunni and
partially secular Palestinian community of Bir
Hasan (where the first killers assembled 26 years
ago before being sent into the Camp) have come to
support the Shia Party of God despite a sometimes troubled past relationship.
The Non-ID Issue and Palestinian Gratitude
Besides shared values regarding education,
Hezbollah supports the project that is now
finally happening to give Palestinians identification cards for the first time.
This is so important to our people in Lebanon.
Actually Hezbollah worked quietly with Prime
Minister Sinioras people to achieve this much
needed progress, the community organizer
explained. They do a lot for us but they dont
announce it to the public so much.
Many Palestinians credit pressure and dialogue
from Hezbollah with the announcement last month
that the government of Lebanon will finally issue
temporary identification cards to perhaps as many
as 5000 Palestinian families (around 20,000
individuals) who have no documents and who
habitually hide from the authorities or risk
imprisonment. PM Fouad Siniora, in bed with the
Bush Administration, wins kudos for his work on
this issue. Siniora appears to reject the
Bush/Cheney and Israeli intense antipathy toward
Resistance supporting Palestinians.
The Lebanese authorities have thus agreed after
40 years to give temporary ID cards to non-ID
Palestinian refugees. Palestinians without any ID
documents are subject to more capricious
treatment by authorities than those holding UNWRA
ID or Ration Cards or NR (Non Registered) cards.
Most non-ID Palestinians are either former
Fedayeen or descendants of the Palestinian
fighters who came to Lebanon in the 1970s after
being driven from Jordan during the Black
September conflict with the Jordanian monarchy.
To qualify for the new IDs these individuals need
to get a residence notice from a Mukhtar and
submit it to the Lebanese General Security. The
Non-ID card will help settle the legal status of
thousands of Palestinians living in Lebanon and
is about the only good news for the Palestinians
here since their PLO protectors left Beirut in
1982, when the camps steep descent into misery
accelerated. Lebanons new PLO Embassy, which
was allowed to open in May of 2006, has already
received 2,600 names of applicants.
Like all Palestinians, the new ID-holders will
still not be allowed to work in professional
vocations or to own property, but at least their
marriages will be legally registered and,
theoretically, they can no longer be rounded up by the authorities at whim.
Sidon Mukhtar Mohammad Baasiri explained that
dozens of Palestinians were flocking into his
office on a daily basis seeking IDs. I have
hundreds of applications from Palestinians who
want to get a residence notice as a starting
point toward getting an ID, Mukhtar Bassiri noted.
Over the past two years, more than 350 non-ID
refugees had been arrested in Sidon alone and
more than 200 students were denied the right to
access its schools and universities. To its
everlasting credit, UNRWA often allows non-ID
children to sneak into its schools - but they
cannot pass their examinations at age 18 and gain
qualifications because that requires legal
papers. As reported by Daily Stars Fayez
Najjar, an unregistered Palestinian father of 14
children from Ein el Helwe Camp explained that
his sons had been arrested for lack of ID several
times as they stepped outside the autonomous
security system of Palestinian-controlled camps.
Hezbollah is credited with helping advance this project.
Fatima Khalifes Quadruplets and Hasan Nasrallah
This is another example of Hezbollah good
neighborliness mentioned by Hajjah Nour, which
this observer had actually learned about earlier
while conducting research in Mar Elias Camp in Beirut.
Many foreigners may not be familiar with the
6000-resident Mar Elias Palestinian Refugee Camp
located just to the Northwest of Sabra and
Shatila. It is small, one of the original camps
set up in 1948. It is heavily made up by
Christians from Nazarath and surrounded by
Gulf-funded high rise construction
projects. Salivating investors eye its
boundaries and prime location near the sandy
beach of Ramlet al Baida and Hamra.
Last month, this observer, en route to an
appointment inside the Camp, was negotiating the
sharp turns of alleys so narrow and dark that
they have likely never been warmed by direct
sunlight, barely enough space to advance along on a motorcycle.
Suddenly I noticed a gaggle of squealing
pre-teens lining up for motorcycle rides and
practicing their English with hello!, how are
you?, welcome! The kids apparently recognized
me and the trusty steed Silver from an earlier
visit. But this time it was necessary to
apologize and explain in very weak Arabic what
next time meant because I was rushing to an
appointment with a camp social worker, who told
me yet another Hezbollah story which affords
insight into the Partys relationship with Palestinians in Lebanon:
On August 9, 2005, a Palestinian mother named
Fatima Khalife gave birth to Quadruplets in
Shatila Camp. One of the four babies, Omar, was
very ill and not expected to live. He needed
life-saving surgery and his family inquired at
the nearby Safah Hospital. Being Palestinian,
Lebanese law forbids any assistance from the
National Social Security Fund, meager as it is.
UNRWA contributed around $2000 and some local
NGOs another $1,500. Still about $37,000 shy, the
family was very happy when an article about the
boys plight was published in the local daily, As
Safir. Two wealthy humanitarian Lebanese women
came forward and offered to help the infant by paying for his surgery.
The Palestinian community was ecstatic and prayed
for success with the delicate operation. Shortly
before the scheduled surgery, a call was received
at the hospital business office that caused its
cancellation. When it was learned that Omar is a
Palestinian, the well-to-do Lebanese ladies,
perhaps with memories of the civil war and lost
loved ones, withdrew their offer of medical assistance.
Word of what happened circulated in the
crestfallen community. A local TV station, New
TV, ran a story about the Khalife familys
desperate plight as Omars brain infection took a
virulent turn. Within minutes of the program
being aired, the office of Hezbollahs Secretary
General Hassan Nasrallah called Omars father.
Hezbollah said it would like to pay for the boys
surgery and all subsequent expenses until the boy
was well. And it did. Nasrallah had watched the
program and was deeply moved. Today, Omar is
healthy, sweet, rambunctious, beautiful, three
years old who just learned how to press the
ignition button and start a foreigners motorcycle.
Hezbollah cannot solve all the Palestinians
problems in Lebanon pending their return to
Palestine, but with no one to rely on but
themselves, Palestinians appreciate enormously such gestures as saving Omar.
At the risk of over-simplification, one concludes
that these kinds of Robin Hood stories have
created a broad admiration for the Hezbollah-led
Resistance in Lebanons Palestinian community -
as do Hezbollahs straight-dealing with the
Shatila and Burj al Burajneh Camps in the Ghoberi
Municipality, where it helps with
infrastructural, sewer and water projects
(probably against the law and wishes of many in Lebanon).
This is not to say that there are no lingering
personal grudges within Lebanons
Shia/Palestinian community from individuals who
suffered at the hands of the other over the past
four decades during the civil war and Zionist
occupation. Yet, one Palestinian friend, Samer, a
Mar Elias Camp social worker, reported that both
communities want to let bygones be bygones. He
points out that marriages between Shia and Sunni
and Christian Palestinians are increasing (his
wife is Shia). He also pointed out and that he
personally has more Hezbollah friends than
Palestinian, as he introduced me to his best
friend, Ali, a Shia and Hezbollah party member.
Franklin Lamb can be reached at
<mailto:fplamb at gmail.com>fplamb at gmail.com. The
SabraShatila website is
<http://www.sabrashatila.org>www.sabrashatila.org.
He is finishing a book on Hezbollah.
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863-9977
www.Freedomarchives.org
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